Homemade Iced Chai Latte

For the longest time I was a purest when it came to tea and coffee—I only wanted it hot. I’m not sure if that actually makes me a purest because in Texas, ice cold sweet tea is a staple just about everywhere you go. The whole iced coffee thing though? I just couldn’t get into that—until recently that is. Since I shared my Hot Chai Tea Latte recipe a few years ago, I’ve been wanting to share my Homemade Iced Chai Latte with you all because it’s just as easy and a super delicious way to cool off any time of the year.

Chai tea is a blend of black tea and spices, most often including cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and ginger. I love chai tea flavors of it’s unique blend of flavors that I love on their own. I even made a Vanilla Chai Cookies that remains one of my all time most pinned posts on Pinterest!

This recipe is super easy because you throw all the ingredients into a slowcooker and set it to “brew” for a few hours then you can enjoy the tea all week long.

I’ve taken it to another level of make-ahead though by freezing the brewed tea into cubes that I then use in my Homemade Iced Chai Latte. By freezing the tea, the tea does not become diluted. I add a bit of crushed ice depending on my mood as it’s not totally necessary if you’re using the tea ice cubes.

Making this drink is so easy–just throw a handful of cubes in your blender, add some milk, blend and voila! You’ve got your Homemade Iced Chai Latte!

½ cup granulated sugar (this is reduced from original recipe but I found I could probably reduce it even more and it would still have a hint of sweetness without being too sweet)

16 whole cloves

16 whole cardamom (I bought mine from the bulk food spice section at Whole Foods so I only bought a little more than I needed but you can find it in jars, too, in the spice aisle of most grocery stores. Mine were already just the seeds and not in pods).

5 cinnamon sticks

1 teaspoon ground ginger

TO SERVE ADD:

1 cup milk (or use foamed milk for hot tea)

Instructions

Combine all ingredients except milk in slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH 2 ½ hours.

When done, strain mixture and discard solids. At this point tea may be stored and refrigerated up a week.